Stake Conference - aargh!

So, I went to stake conference this morning, just me and the girls. Logan had to work, and I would feel guilty if I just blew off church, so we went. I sure hope I get points for trying. Making it through Sacrament meeting without Logan is one thing - I can kind of box Grace in a side pew. But this was a different story. We stuck around for an amazing 12 minutes. Then I got fed up, hauled the two girls out of church and back home. I have so much more respect for mothers that do everything alone. I will be much more compassionate and willing to help other mothers in the future.

As irreverent as Grace is, she sure is a cutie. She has gotten so big and coordinated and energetic. She loves to give hugs, and she does it so well, they feel great! Here are some pictures of the girls lately.

Cute braids before

Cute "cocker spaniel ears" hair after!


Sweetly asleep

Cute hair and a cute girl!

New old pictures

My cousin Megan sent me a couple of pictures of my father and my brother Kevin that she found while going through her old photos. The pictures are probably 6 or so years old. It was so nice to see them again - I miss them!

Dad and my sister-in-law Brenda.
Kevin and my mother.

Her own dentist

Libby is great - lately she just cannot stop eating her fingers. Sometimes she tries to get her whole hand in, and then gags. She is a funny girl. Grace is growing growing growing. Her favorite thing to do is jump up and down. She does it all day long. We need to get a trampoline! Here are some pictures of the girls.

Three months old already!

Libby is three months old already! She is getting so big and so very pretty. It seems like she has been part of our family a lot longer than 3 months. She can almost roll over, and is a really great sleeper. We love her so much.

Grace is growing up so fast (she is 20 months). She is getting so strong, and tall, and coordinated, and adventurous! She loves to climb into Libby's crib and play. I have to be very watchful to keep her out of there when Libby is in! Grace loves drawing, and is doing better at not eating the crayons. She loves going to nursery at church - she doesn't even look back at us when she goes in!




Here is grace with her truck at 20 months, and below she is 12 months. What a difference!

The Sweetest Gift

My mom has given me the sweetest gift. She sent me her tupperware sugar shaker!! I grew up with it, and have loved it forever. Tupperware no longer makes it, and I have always felt that my home would not be complete without one. My mom parted with it, just for me! She has had it in her home for at least 30 years. It will be a part of my kitchen and home forever!

Hell's Half Acre

Logan posted a picture up above. It is a place in Wyoming called Hell's Half Acre. It is the halfway point between Laramie (Univ of Wyoming - my alma mater) and Lovell (my hometown). It is between Casper and Shoshoni near the "town" of Whitman, Wyo, population 10. I love Wyoming!! Interesting info: the movie "Starship Troopers" was filmed there.

Tucson, Arizona

Well, here we are in Tucson, AZ! We are excited to be here and all moved in. We reunited as a family on Dec 21st in the SLC airport and Logan was able to meet Libby for the first time. What a sweet moment. Logan is such a great dad. They have bonded already. It took Grace about 3 minutes before she recognized Logan and then she was excited to see him and hug him... Thankfully, it did not take me that long to be excited to see him!!

After meeting up in Utah, Logan drove the Uhaul with all our belongings to Tucson, while I waited a day and then flew down with Libby and met up there. A big thanks to Conan and Ross for all their help moving stuff in AZ, and a big thanks, too, to Laurie and John for all their help is Utah. Oh, and thanks a ton to my Mom and Bob for letting me stay with them (and have a baby while there) in Wyoming while Logan was in the Academy.

As you may know, things do not always happen smoothly with us. It took the electric company a week and a half to get power hooked up to our new home (a rental), so we stayed with Conan and Chrissy for a week and a few days. Thanks to them again, for letting us invade their space, especially during the holidays.

Now that we are in our house, with most things put away in their proper places, it feels great!! Our ward is nice so far, and we are looking forward to being involved in it.

Here are a few pictures of Logan meeting Libby at the airport and a few more random ones.

Love you all!!

Dad and Libby....

All together!!

Pretty Libby at 7 weeks

Grace in the snow in Utah

Countdown

I get to see Logan in 19 days! I can't wait!

Pictures

Here are some more pictures of the girls. They look beautiful in their new Christmas dresses!



Look at Grace's LONG hair!

Better late than never.......

Well, family and friends, this is a long overdue post. We have had a lot happen in the last few months. As some of you know, Claire Elizabeth was born on November 1. We actually call her Libby, but we couldn't decide on naming her any of the names that you can derive Libby from. (Elizabeth was one of them, even though it's only her middle name.) She was very healthy and chunky. She was an inch shorter (20 in.) than Grace was (21 in.), but a full pound heavier (8 lb. 7 oz.) She has a very thick head of dark, wavy hair. Well, it's wavy when it's wet but then it kind of calms down when it dries. We'll see how that turns out over time. We are so glad to have her in our family.
Karen, Grace and Libby are still at her mom's house in Wyoming. We are so glad that she was able to be up there with her mom and sisters when she had the baby. It really made me feel a lot better to know that there was so much help since I couldn't be there. I would have obviously preferred to be there when Libby was born, but they just won't let me out of this place. We knew that coming in to it, though. After a year and a half of trying to find a way back to school and living in poverty we just couldn't pass it up when they called-especially since we got offered Tucson. We had to seize the opportunity.
Grace seems to be adjusting well to having a little sister. Karen has to be sure she doesn't point out Libby's facial features too hard. I love this video of Grace and Libby-Grace gets so excited:



For those of you I haven't talked to for a while, I am still here in Artesia, NM at the Border Patrol Academy. It is actually snowing today-go figure. I didn't expect to get 4 inches of snow here. Things are going well. I'm doing well in the academic side of things. As far as the physical conditioning goes I'm just trying to get out of here without my knees dying on me. (When I get out of here I'm going to see how much Uncle Sam will do to get me some new knees so I can keep up my running on my own time. I still haven't lost much wait. In true Beach fashion I've just gained muscle to replace the chubs. My pants are falling off of me, but no weight loss. The PT is pretty tough but not unbearable. It would be a lot easier if I was as studly as I was 10 years and 60 lbs ago.
We qualified on our pistols last week. I did pretty well for not having shot pistols much in the past. I've shot a few times with my pops and my bro-in-law, Scott, but no formal training. I actually scored 343 out of 360 which is actually at the highest scoring bracket-Expert Level. I think I get a cool certificate when I graduate. Next we get to train on the M4 and shotgun.
We've started lectures for our driver training. We actually get out on the course next week. We do courses in high-speed pursuits, 4X4, skid control and some other training on a huge track where we have to go as fast as we can in a Dodge Charger-I'm sure I won't mind that any. It should be fun training in the snow for desert driving ; )
Graduation is on December 20. Conan actually gets to come and pin my badge on me since he's a Border Patrol Agent, too. That should be cool. Then, we're off to Tucson. We still don't have a place to live there, but I'm sure we'll find one. I should be going there next weekend with a classmate, hopefully I can find a place to rent while I'm there.
We are excited to get back to Arizona. Karen is sad to be leaving Wyoming again, but with the money they're going to be paying me we'll definitely be able to afford going back more often. We think about you all and can't wit to see you. I know we'll see a lot of you at the Beach Bash on Dec. 29. Until then.